Storm Ciaran 'weather bomb' brings trail of destruction, power cuts and more flooding

GALES of up to 104mph wreaked a trail of havoc yesterday as Storm Ciaran roared across the country.

- Chris Riches

The ferocious record-breaking "weather bomb" shut schools, cut power, and threw the transport system into chaos.

It set a new November benchmark for the lowest average pressure at sea level recorded in England and Wales. It read 953.3 microbars in Plymouth, beating 959.7 set in 1916.

Channel Islands homes were evacuated as a tornado with hailstones the size of tangerines tore through, smashing windows.

Ciaran the third named storm of the season - also slammed into the South Coast and Wales.

Hundreds of schools shut over risks to children. A major incident was declared in Hampshire because of pressure on local services.

The Environment Agency set 82 flood warnings and 201 flood alerts in England by yesterday afternoon.

A Met Office yellow rain warning remained last night for eastern Scotland until 6pm today.

There is also a rain warning for the South East from 3pm tomorrow until midnight.

It comes just days after Storm Babet battered the North, Wales, the Midlands and Scotland.

A woman's body was washed up on Penarth beach, South Wales, on Wednesday afternoon. Police are investigating.

Yesterday, Ciaran tore off roofs and rail chiefs urged commuters to work from home. Among the disruption were trampolines blown on to railway lines.